Aleix Espargaro used the softer tire and cooler temperatures in the Friday morning practice session to pace the day in front of his home crowd. (Photo courtesy MotoGP.com)

Friday afternoon’s MotoGP™ FP2 at the Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya ended with Bradley Smith setting the pace, as Stefan Bradl and Marc Marquez joined him in the top three. Yet it was Aleix Espargaro who wound up being Friday’s fastest rider overall, courtesy of an FP1 hot lap.

Monster Yamaha Tech3’s Smith set his best time of the afternoon with the track temperatures reaching over 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit), his 1:42.123 lap well over a second quicker than he had gone in the morning.

As the MotoGP action on the first day of the 2014 Monster Energy Grand Prix concluded at Le Mans, Marc Marquez outpaced his fellow premier class riders, leading the way from Andrea Iannone and Alvaro Bautista in FP2.

Having also topped the timesheet in the morning session, Marquez quickened the pace in the afternoon sunshine, registering a 1:33.452 best time, which is under the fastest lap in a race at Le Mans set by Dani Pedrosa in 2011.

Aleix Espargaro rounds the bend during first practice at Losail International Circuit. (Photo: Getty Images)

Aleix Espargaro (NGM Forward Racing) set the pace in the opening FP1 session of the year for the premier class in Qatar, with Alvaro Baustista (GO&FUN Honda Gresini) and Bradley Smith (Monster Yamaha Tech3) second and third respectively.

In the first Grand Prix practice session of the new ‘Open’ class era it was Espargaro in P1 with his Open entry Forward Yamaha with a 1:55.201 best lap, with Bautista 0.466s behind him. Espargaro’s pace was over 0.3s slower than he went in testing here two weeks ago.